Wow, last initiative, June 11, 2013

  

 Wow.  I have spent almost all my internet time writing other things, organizing some zone stuff, and now I hardly have any time to write!!!!  I´m so sorry.  But it´s okay because I´ll see you all in a few weeks.  No worries.

This week was pretty good.  We got an awesome new initiative from President King that obviously has to do with the Book of Mormon, because it´s his favorite book and it´s also his last initiative!!  He leaves the 28th of this month.  So it´s going to be a pretty interesting change.

Keep praying for our investigators!  And pray so that we find some more people to teach.

Sorry so short.  Love you!

Elder Moffat

Start of Last Change, June 4, 2013

Still here in Republica.  Thanks for the pics of Jack's Baptism and friends and stuff!  Tell Jack congrats on his baptism!  It must have been so cool to be baptized in Lake Michigan (cool as in "sweet, bro" and cool as in freaking cold, yes pun intended).

We had change conference yesterday, because 23 missionaries got here today (Tuesday) from the Chile MTC.  Did you know that all the American missionaries that are going to Chile don´t do the MTC in Provo anymore?  They have 6 weeks of MTC here in Chile!  It´s crazy.


 So anyway, that´s why I´m writing today, Tuesday-- because of that thing yesterday.

Also, our Chilean companion, Elder Silva, is gone.  He got his visa a few weeks ago, and they just kept him here through the end of the change.  We dropped him off at the office yesterday, Monday, and his flight left this morning at 6:30am.  He´s in Ecuador now!  It was good to be with him, and it was good to have trained someone in the mission.

Now it´s just Elder Rodriguez and I in the sector.  In our zone, there are 8 companionships.  7 of them had some sort of change!  We lost Elder Silva, and the sisters were in a trio and lost their senior comp/trainer.  And then 5 other companionships have new companions.  No one is training, which is odd, but we do have 2 new District Leaders, and Elder Rodriguez and I are excited to help them become great leaders.  It looks like they both have potential, and they both seem humble and excited. couldn´t really ask for anything better.

We are now teaching Eduardo, who decided he wanted to learn about the church after coming to the English classes for a few weeks.  He came to church at 9:30 for the classes on Sunday, stayed the whole 3 hours, and went back Sunday night for the ward family night (for investigators and recent converts). And he loved it!  We taught him about the Restoration this morning and he had already read a Church brochure about Joseph Smith and his testimony.  He found the translation of the Book of Mormon by Joseph Smith absolutely fascinating.  What I love about him is his sincere desire to learn and know, and that he understands what he reads.  A lot of people can read the last 2 paragraphs of the introduction to the Book of Mormon, or read a church pamphlet and really not understand what it means.  They read it out loud just fine, but they don´t comprehend what it´s saying.  I´ll be honest-- when I´m just reading and not paying attention, it definitely happens to me.  But he understands what he´s reading!  It´s so great.  He has committed to read more and pray about the Book of Mormon, and has committed to be baptized in July if he comes to know that the Book of Mormon and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints are true.

That´s what I love about the church and missionary work.  We´re not here to try and convince people that our church is true with fancy or persuasive or even manipulative words.  We teach for true, genuine, sincere understanding.  The only thing we convince or persuade people to do is to read a book of scripture and apply the invitation to ask God about His restored truths.  We don´t manipulate them into being baptized or believing what we´re saying, we just invite them to ask God, and we continue to help them come unto Christ through Faith, teaching them the commandments of God so they know to repent, helping them through the repentance processes, and then making covenants with God, something that they themselves already want to do.  It´s just so straightforward and true.  and we´re really just here to support the strengthening of their relationship with God.

We´re going to work super hard these last few weeks of my mission.  We´re both excited.  It´s going to be a bit hard, and we don´t have a whole lot of people to teach, but hey.  we´ll find those people and invite them come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel.  Yeah!

Stay strong for the last week of school/ Finals!!! Wait, are you guys already out of school?  lucky!

Just one more fast Sunday and then I´ll be home.

love,

Elder Cole Moffat

Cortito, May 27, 2013

 

Again, not a lot to write about.  Well, really, not a lot of time left.  that´s the real thing.

Thanks for all the emails, fam!  It´s good to hear from the cousins.

 

Hey.  Mom, Dad, and bros.  There are a lot of ecuatorians in this sector that make and sell beanies.  There comfortable and warm. and cheap.  I´m going to  buy some for you guys.  what colors do you want?  I need each of you to send me a color.  In can be mixed or stripes.  Also, for the bros, I can get you a sick wool pancho, a wool zip up jacket, or a chilean soccer jersey.  You  guys can pick individually, and I´ll get them and bring them home to you.

 

 

 

Mom, I need a brownie recipe.  thanks!

OH YEAH!  This week we went with Raul Maire (baptized in Feb) to the temple to do baptisms! I brought 2 of my own names.  It was really cool to actually be baptized for them.  And Elder Rodriguez got to confirm his grandpa!  Raul did baptisms also.  He, in his own super calm way, couldn´t get over just how cool of an experience it was.

 

Tomorrow, we´ll be going to the temple as a zone.  I´ll do the work for one of my own ancestors. I´ve never done that before, so I´m excited to have the opportunity and experience of going through the temple for them.  If you guys want to/can go to the temple tomorrow, or at least this week, I invite you to do it.  The temple is such an important part of our worship.  Do it!

Well, that´s all, folks.

I love you!

Elder Cole Moffat

ps- can you send me maddi moffat´s email address?  thanks!

Interview week, May 20, 2013

We had interviews this week with president King.  My Temple recommend was going to expire at the end of the month, so I had a temple recommend interview in addition to the normal missionary interview.  Can you believe that I went through the temple for the first time 2 years ago?

This week I was also reading in the New Testament.  Romans 13:12, 14 and 1 Corinthians 2:4-5 caught my attention.  Go ahead.  Read them.

Not too much other news for this week.  Elder Silva is still with us in the trio, and he´s actually with some people from the church travel department right now doing his visa at the Ecuadorian embassy. 

Love you guys!

Elder Cole Moffat

Quick letter, another baptism, May 13, 2013

I loved the Skype call on Saturday.  And then that night we had a baptism!  so it was a great day!!!!!

Benjamín got baptized!  He was so excited.  He´s 9 and his mom is now back active in the church, his sister got baptized almost 2 years ago, and now he has taken the step.  and his dad even came!  big step.  I confirmed him on Sunday (I guess that´s my unofficial job here in the ward-- I´ve confirmed the last 3 people who have gotten baptized!)

Yesterday we were also walking somewhere, and even though we knew we wouldn´t be able to actually get in the house, I felt like we should just go anyway.  And on the way there, we ran into a lady who stopped us and asked us where the church is in the sector.  She moved here 3 months ago from la Paz, Bolivia, and was there with her inactive sister.  And she said "But I´m not baptized yet." Golden!  We told her where the church was, and actually went by her house to pick her up for an activity later that night!  and immediately the people there became her friends.  As it turns out, all her kids are baptized, her sister and her family are all Mormons, and her brother in law is a Bishop.  I told her that I had a friend serving in Cochabamba, Bolivia, and she immediately said, "Oh where the temple is!  My sister and brother in law are temple workers, and I've been to the temple grounds- obviously not inside-- but I love it.  It´s so pretty!"  We´re really excited to teach her.  And I now have an even stronger testimony that the lord often leads us to people.  And, oftentimes, he leads them to us, too!

I love you guys!

Elder Cole Moffa

Hey!, April 29, 2013

Hey family!  how are you doing?!  I´m doing okay, still here in Republica.  CRAZY week, let me just tell you that.

Monday, I took Elder Strong to the office, and spent the day with the wilcox´s and Elder Harman and Elder Carty.  They stayed the night in Republica, and we had some good lessons.  Then Tuesday was when it got crazy.  We get to changes meeting, and I find out my new companion is Elder Rodriguez from Hidalgo, Mexico.  He goes home 3 changes after I do.  So in the middle of the meeting, the assistants get a call-- all the provo MTC missionaries that were supposed to arrive in the mission on Wednesday came a day early and were waiting at the airport Tuesday morning!  Two weeks of planning the logistics of changes week by the assistants, down the drain!  I know just how basically impossible that is.  So Elder Morgan, Elder Stetler, and I offered to help out in any way we could as ex-office Elders.  President was very grateful for the offer, and so we went to work!  I was substitute secretary for a day!  haha I did the new missionary training for the new Provo MTC missionaries, did mission shopping for pillows, etc.  Good stuff. Meanwhile, my new comp went back to the zone with other missionaries-- I felt kind of bad for meeting him, and then immediately having to give him to another companionship for the day.  Anyway, at about 4:00, I saw an email that basically said, SURPRISE!!!! the mission is going to recieve an extra missionary from the Chile MTC--- we got the notice after President had picked him up.  yep.  surprise.  So at about 5:00, my work was done and Elder Stetler and I headed back to go be with our comps.  Then President called me..... "Hey Elder Moffat!  Are you still in the office?" "No, we´re in the metro."  "Oh, well thanks for all your help today.  And for all your hard work, I have a surprise for you-- another companion!!"  Yep, the surprise missionary is also my companion!!!  Elder Silva is from Peñaflor, and is waiting a few weeks for his visa to clear so he can go to his mission in Ecuador Guayaquil South.  I actually met him one time on divisions my first or second change in the mission.  small world, eh?  So basically, we´re training him--- without going to the trainers meeting, without going to the temple, and without any sort of instruccions.  Yay!  Good thing Elder Rodriguez just got done training!

So yes, we´re in ANOTHER trio.  my 5th and 6th companions in this sector.  But it´s fun.  they´re both good guys and good missionaries.  I wish I was as good as Elder Silva my first week in the mission!

Also, Last night we had a very humbling and sacred experience.  I´ll tell you on skype in a few weeks, but I definitely have a very strengthened testimony of the power of the priesthood now.  It really made me think of  the "Sanctify yourselves" mormon message.  here´s the link so you can watch it:  http://www.lds.org/pages/mormon-messages?cid=HP000041&lang=eng#sanctify-yourselves

Also, upon seeing a fellow ward member in urgent need of a priesthood blessing, I realized a few things.  I realized just how much I have come to love the people in this ward.  I realized how much I have come to love the people in all my wards, now looking back on it.  And that made me understand just a little more just how much God loves his children. It hurts him to see his children suffer, and his arms of mercy can be all-enveloping if we choose to receive, see, and feel it.  I always wants to help us, and in many instances, he sends help in the form of other people. Often times, we are those children of God who are suffering, and we need to be humble enough to ask for and/or accept the help that God sends us through other people.  Even more often, we need to be those people that God sends to help the suffering.  We must always be willing and looking for ways so serve  and help other people. God hopes and expects that we always we worthy and willing to lift those that have fallen, to encourage those who are downtrodden, and especially as priesthood holders, worthy and willing to bless the lives of those in need through the power of God.  We must always keep ourselves worthy.  “Be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord,” says Isaiah.  And as Joshua says, and as I know is true, for I have seen it,  "Sanctify yourselves: For tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you."

I love you.

Elder Cole Moffat